Ryan Wilson still has a chance to make the Flames opening night roster.

Wilson is on a PTO and has played well in training camp as he is battling Brett Kulak for the sixth spot on the blueline. "I’m still here, so that’s a good thing," Wilson said Friday. "My goal coming in was make sure I’m getting better every day, learning the systems, learning how to play their game, and I think I’ve done a pretty good job at that. As long as you show improvement and you’re willing to work hard and do everything that they ask, then you’re going to succeed more often that not. I’m definitely proud of what I’ve done so far, but there’s still some work to be done." Wilson missed all but three games last season with a shoulder injury for Colorado and doesn't have a lot of fantasy value at this time. Sat, Oct 3, 2015 06:16:00 AM

The Calgary Flames have extended a professional tryout offer to Ryan Wilson.

Wilson originally signed with Calgary as an undrafted free agent in 2008, but the Flames dealt him to Colorado in a 2009 trade involving Jordan Leopold. Wilson has gone on to record seven goals and 67 points in 230 contests with the Avalanche. He played in just three contests last season though, due to a shoulder injury. Thu, Sep 3, 2015 05:48:00 PM

Ryan Wilson still has a chance to make the Flames opening night roster.

Wilson is on a PTO and has played well in training camp as he is battling Brett Kulak for the sixth spot on the blueline. "I’m still here, so that’s a good thing," Wilson said Friday. "My goal coming in was make sure I’m getting better every day, learning the systems, learning how to play their game, and I think I’ve done a pretty good job at that. As long as you show improvement and you’re willing to work hard and do everything that they ask, then you’re going to succeed more often that not. I’m definitely proud of what I’ve done so far, but there’s still some work to be done." Wilson missed all but three games last season with a shoulder injury for Colorado and doesn't have a lot of fantasy value at this time.

The Calgary Flames have extended a professional tryout offer to Ryan Wilson.

Wilson originally signed with Calgary as an undrafted free agent in 2008, but the Flames dealt him to Colorado in a 2009 trade involving Jordan Leopold. Wilson has gone on to record seven goals and 67 points in 230 contests with the Avalanche. He played in just three contests last season though, due to a shoulder injury.

Wilson is set to become an unrestricted free-agent on July 1st. The Avs will almost certainly be in the market for a defenseman or two this offseason. It also looks like the team will let Jan Hejda walk as well.

Wilson was limited to just three games in 2014-15. He was originally sidelined for a suspected head injury and when he tried to return on Oct. 21, he sustained his current shoulder problem. His three-year, $6.75 million contract is set to expire this summer and he might have a tough time getting another one-way deal after playing in just 43 contests over the life of that deal.

It was initially suspected that he was concussed Monday when a puck struck him in the face, but he's listed as day-to-day and could return to the lineup on Thursday or Saturday. Wilson wasn't available for Tuesday's match in Toronto.

Ryan Wilson looks like a completely different player this preseason than he did in his subpar, injury-filled 2013-14 campaign.

He has shown up in tremendous shape and is playing with both a physical edge and an offensive flair in games and practices thus far. Wilson's play has improved to a large degree because he is completely healthy for the first time in three seasons. Keep an eye on Wilson as he could make a nice reserve roster pick.

Depth Charts

Sean Monahan has undergone four surgeries since he was removed from the lineup.

Monahan had his left wrist reconstructed, he had procedures on both hips for hernias and surgery for an injured groin. He expects to be fine for next season after he missed the last seven games of the 2017-18 campaign. Monahan said he played hurt for about 35 games before his year ended.

Mikael Backlund had a goal and an assist in a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers.

Backlund's assist on Dougie Hamilton's first period goal broke a run of 11 games without recording a point for the Swedish forward. Backlund then followed that up by scoring a goal of his own that got Cam Talbot pulled from the game 15:28 into the first period. The 29-year-old forward is now up to 14 goals and 43 points in 79 games this season.

Mark Jankowski scored four times in a 7-1 rout of the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night.

By the end of the first period, Jankowski already had two goals. The center scored his third and fourth in the second and third period, as he powered the Flames to their massive victory over the Golden Knights. The forward now has 17 goals and 25 points in 72 games this season.

Stajan played in his 1,000th NHL game this season. He hasn't been an elite player, but he's quietly put together a solid career during his tenure with Toronto and now Calgary. "I think it means a lot when you get recognized for something like that," Stajan said. "All we focus on as a player is the day-to-day. Over my career, I’ve just tried to do that. There’s going to be lots of ups and downs in life in hockey and you have to try and approach things the best you can, that’s been my mindset. It’s worked for me, and to be recognized by people for that is a great honor."

Nick Shore scored a goal on his only shot of the game while adding two blocked shots, a minor penalty and a hit in Tuesday's 4-1 loss against the Coyotes.

It was the pivot's first point in seven games since coming over in a deadline deal from the Ottawa Senators, and it is his first point since Feb. 9 when he was a member of the Los Angeles Kings. It's been a long and circuitous route for Shore, who is only worth a look in the very deepest of fantasy formats at this point.

Johnny Gaudreau has a goal and nine points in eight games in the 2018 World Championships.

Gaudreau has been playing for Team USA, which has advanced to the semifinals. Their next opponent is Sweden, which includes Gaudreau's Flames teammate Mikael Backlund as its captain. The World Championships has offered Gaudreau with a chance to end the campaign on a more positive note after Calgary failed to make the playoffs, though the 2017-18 was certainly a productive one for him offensively as he had 24 goals and 84 points in 80 games.

Matthew Tkachuk wants to be one of the leaders for the Calgary Flames.

Tkachuk is only 20 but is already emerging as one of the leaders of the Flames. "You want to be that difference-maker," Tkachuk declared. "You want to be taking on more of a role, where you’re producing more and you’re taking charge that way, but you also want to be a guy in the locker-room who people start to look up to. The way I play, I want that to kind of be a staple of the way I want our team to play. I think the way we’re going to be successful, the way playoff hockey needs to be played, it’s played hard. I want to try to show that by how I play out there." Tkachuk had 24 goals and 49 points in 68 games this season and you should look for a lot more next season from the winger.

Bennett hasn't earned a point in nine of the last 11 games, including the last four matches. He has 11 goals and 26 points in 73 games this campaign. Mark Jankowski is slated to play between Micheal Ferland and Chris Stewart.

Frolik, who played in his 700th career game earlier in the week, is up to 19 points with eight goals this season after assisting on both of Matthew Tkachuk's third period goals as the Flames came back to beat the Islanders 3-2. He has little fantasy value at this time.

While Micheal Ferland set new career-highs in 2017-18, the expectation is that he can do better next season.

Ferland took a big step forward this season with 21 goals and 41 points in 77 games. Going into the campaign, he had a career-high of 25 points. "A year ago, I told him I thought he could score 20-some goals. I think he can score 30 now," said Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan said. "He has to find that level of consistency within himself too, to be more consistent and recognize he’s a pretty good player in this league. I think we got 50 really good games out of Ferly. I still think there’s room for him to play more." The belief that Ferland can do better if he was consistent isn't hard to understand. Ferland had 20 goals in his first 50 games this season and just one in his final 27 contests. So had he not gone through a drought in the final stretch of the season, a 30-goal showing in 2017-18 wouldn't have been out of the range of possibilities.

Chris Stewart will be a healthy scratch in Thursday's game against the Winnipeg Jets.

Stewart has 10 goals and six assists in 54 games with the Wild and Flames this season. This is the third consecutive game he'll watch from the press box. Matt Stajan will also serve as a healthy scratch in this one. T.J. Brodie, Kris Versteeg, Matthew Tkachuk, Sean Monahan and Travis Hamonic will all miss the game due to injury.

Troy Brouwer picked up a goal and an assist in Monday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Brouwer collected the primary assist on Mark Giordano's goal at the 6:14 mark of the first period to cut Pittsburgh's lead to 2-1. The veteran then tied the game at three with three seconds remaining in the second frame. Brouwer finished the night with a plus-2 rating and one shot on goal in 15:35 of ice time. The 32-year-old has five goals and 19 points in 61 games this season. He doesn't need to be owned in any fantasy format. Mikael Backlund also found the back of the net for the Flames.

With his 17th goal Saturday night against the Oilers, Dougie Hamilton has re-gained the goal-scoring lead among all NHL defensemen.

Hamilton is now one up on P.K. Subban, Seth Jones and Aaron Ekblad, who each have 16 markers. It has been another productive year for the 24-year-old blueliner, but he is a bit behind last year's 50-point pace.

Mark Giordano feels like he let down head coach Glen Gulutzan, who was fired after the Flames' missed the playoffs.

"Obviously, the season didn’t go the way we wanted, obviously the expectation was to get in the playoffs and go on a run and we didn’t get there," said Flames captain Mark Giordano. "As a player, you just feel terrible. You feel a lot of responsibility for those guys losing their jobs. We, ultimately, were the guys on the ice and we didn’t get it done." Giordano noted that as the team's captain, he had a great relationship with the coaching staff. Calgary had a disappointing season, but Giordano more-or-less lived up to expectations. He had 13 goals and 38 points in 82 contests in 2017-18 while averaging 24:47 minutes.

Matt Bartkowski will be a healthy scratch in Thursday's game against the Arizona Coyotes.

Bartkowski has played in just one game since the start of 2018. He has one assist and a minus-3 rating in 14 games this season. He won't have any fantasy value going forward. Ryan Lomberg will also watch the game from the press box.

Kulak pounced on the loose puck and blasted a slapper into the open net for his second goal of the season. The 24-year-old blueliner is nothing more than a bottom pairing defenseman and he should not be owned in any formats.